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Hi, just wondering if anyone on here has got recent experience of Turkey and can advise payment methods for things there (predominantly food and drink).
Ideally I would just pay for everything with the Chase card but we’re being asked to pay in pounds (cash) for some things we’ve booked in advance, and some hotel extras. Presumably this is due to the Turkish Lira losing value daily. I don’t want to get there and find the Chase card isn’t accepted but equally I don’t want to take large amounts of sterling cash.
Any advice appreciated.
Generally, you only need to pay in cash (in either £/€/$ preferred due to the Lira losing value) for bigger items, whether this be tours of transfers etc.
When we last went, we bought enough euros to pay for those items and then paid for most other stuff on credit card. This included travelling around some of the interior of the country, as well as Istanbul. You can withdraw euros from some ATMS, which we did when we needed cash for e.g. purchases at the markets (and in € so that we could usefully use any leftovers after the trip). The only point where we came unstuck was we needed Liras (in cash) to buy a boat ticket to cross the Bosphorus River.
I never used cash in Turkey. I used Uber for yellow cabs in Istanbul, virtually every place accepted cards with contactless.
I even used contactless for a Bosphorus boat and it worked.
And Bosphorus is not a river 😉Weird thing is that the largest banknote is 200 lira, which is worth around £6 only. You’d have to use a pile of cash if you had to pay in cash for some expensive stuff, hence card is accepted everywhere I think.
Thanks for the replies, good info. I didn’t say that we’re going to be in Icmeler and probably not travelling around too much.
I never used cash in Turkey. I used Uber for yellow cabs in Istanbul, virtually every place accepted cards with contactless.
I’d caution about Uber in Istanbul. We had about a 50% success rate, the remainder of the time it was a terse message from the driver demanding a grossly inflated fee – am talking 10x, not an extra 20%.
Clearly the frequency with which they were asking suggests Uber don’t really care either.
Euros are the preferred currency, although I changed some GBP at a bureau on the Asian side in Istanbul and got a very good rate.
Cash points seemed designed to confuse with a plethora of fees being added. They also varied meaningfully by bank and often you would be presented by 6 different ATM’s located side by side.
If you absolutely have to pay cash, then use the currency of Turkey – the Turkish lira.
If a place refuses to accept the lira then they are breaking the law, and will probably change their mind if you walk away.The worst thing you can do is change your sterling for Euros to use over there. The euro is neither your currency nor that of Turkey.
Again, use only lira if you have no choice but to use cash.
Most ATMs impose an admin fee when withdrawing cash, with certain exceptions like ING, Halk and the local post office (PTT), so use those in conjunction with a card that does not apply foreign currency transaction fees
Generally, you only need to pay in cash (in either £/€/$ preferred due to the Lira losing value) for bigger items, whether this be tours of transfers etc.
When we last went, we bought enough euros to pay for those items and then paid for most other stuff on credit card. This included travelling around some of the interior of the country, as well as Istanbul. You can withdraw euros from some ATMS, which we did when we needed cash for e.g. purchases at the markets (and in € so that we could usefully use any leftovers after the trip). The only point where we came unstuck was we needed Liras (in cash) to buy a boat ticket to cross the Bosphorus River.
This is the sort of person that unscrupulous Turkish salesmen absolutely love.
Don’t be a Redlilly; always pay in lira.I never used cash in Turkey. I used Uber for yellow cabs in Istanbul, virtually every place accepted cards with contactless.
I’d caution about Uber in Istanbul. We had about a 50% success rate, the remainder of the time it was a terse message from the driver demanding a grossly inflated fee – am talking 10x, not an extra 20%.
Clearly the frequency with which they were asking suggests Uber don’t really care either.
Euros are the preferred currency, although I changed some GBP at a bureau on the Asian side in Istanbul and got a very good rate.
Cash points seemed designed to confuse with a plethora of fees being added. They also varied meaningfully by bank and often you would be presented by 6 different ATM’s located side by side.
Thanks. I guess I got lucky with Uber in my two nights there. I had no idea about the 10x rate situation.
Be very wary of the cashpoint machines. The ones at IST charge 10%, most others 6%. As noted above, PTT (the Post Office) ones are best for charges and are easier to find IME.
As also noted, credit cards are taken in most places.
Generally, you only need to pay in cash (in either £/€/$ preferred due to the Lira losing value) for bigger items, whether this be tours of transfers etc.
When we last went, we bought enough euros to pay for those items and then paid for most other stuff on credit card. This included travelling around some of the interior of the country, as well as Istanbul. You can withdraw euros from some ATMS, which we did when we needed cash for e.g. purchases at the markets (and in € so that we could usefully use any leftovers after the trip). The only point where we came unstuck was we needed Liras (in cash) to buy a boat ticket to cross the Bosphorus River.
This is the sort of person that unscrupulous Turkish salesmen absolutely love.
Don’t be a Redlilly; always pay in lira.Not really. E.g. a lot of the more reputable hot air balloon companies in Cappadocia only accept payment by cash, and that cash has to be Euros. We went with personal recommendations, given safety, but also did a price comparison via a personal friend who is familiar with it, to make sure we weren’t getting ripped off.
Otherwise, as I said in my OP we mostly paid by credit card. You can still pay using other currencies in some countries without getting ripped off, depending on what the rate is and what the service being provided is. Not everyone is quite as naive as you’re assuming here.
Either way, not sure what about my OP got your goat up so much and why you have to go in to personal attack mode. There was nothing controversial said.
Either way, not sure what about my OP got your goat up so much and why you have to go in to personal attack mode. There was nothing controversial said.
You are encouraging wrong behaviour.
You had the wool pulled over your eyes by Turkish traders who were breaking the law.
These kind of traders will try to convince tourists that they only accept cash, or they they only deal in Euros, but that is a load of bollox.
Please don’t encourage others to fall foul off the tactics that you fell for.
Only pay in lira. Walk away if they won’t accept it.Either way, not sure what about my OP got your goat up so much and why you have to go in to personal attack mode. There was nothing controversial said.
You are encouraging wrong behaviour.
You had the wool pulled over your eyes by Turkish traders who were breaking the law.
These kind of traders will try to convince tourists that they only accept cash, or they they only deal in Euros, but that is a load of bollox.
Please don’t encourage others to fall foul off the tactics that you fell for.
Only pay in lira. Walk away if they won’t accept it.Again, in to personal attack mode and rude language. It is really not neccessary. I gave my opinion and experience, you gave yours, they’re different. So what. We’re all different and we all have our own reasons to do things. There is absolutely no defence for your tone and language.
Have a nice enjoyable Saturday.
Either way, not sure what about my OP got your goat up so much and why you have to go in to personal attack mode. There was nothing controversial said.
You are encouraging wrong behaviour.
You had the wool pulled over your eyes by Turkish traders who were breaking the law.
These kind of traders will try to convince tourists that they only accept cash, or they they only deal in Euros, but that is a load of bollox.
Please don’t encourage others to fall foul off the tactics that you fell for.
Only pay in lira. Walk away if they won’t accept it.I agree. Those sellers were really aggressive pieces of crap, in my eye. I’m fine getting ripped off to a certain degree in places like Turkey. But it seems to have gotten crazy worse.
By cash payments it seems they are also avoiding tax. So typical.
In Albania I got ripped off by paying in lekë cash vs euros in some places. The interbank rate at the time was 105 per euro, some merchants used 100 for ease of calculation, so better to pay with leke as expected.
But others, notably the airport duty free, used 110 so better to pay with euros (euro coins accepted).
As for Turkey except at airports there is always a bureau de change somewhere which has good rates, often better than the MasterCard exchange rate. But holding lira cash is a fool’s game.
But holding lira cash is a fool’s game.
And this works both ways. As I recall we booked some ground tours before departure. They asked for payment in EUR, which I was fine with. We amended the tour and it incurred a surcharge owing to extra kms. Again they said “that’ll be an extra EURx on the day” and I’m cool with that. Why should I leave them exposed to currency devaluation when I want a competent guide, safe vehicle etc etc? Otherwise they need to mark up significantly to cover their potential risk, or cut corners elsewhere…
When I went in 2019, everywhere proffered euros but all I had was lira… so they had to conversions with a calculator from the euros price
I went to Turkey a couple of months ago and though prices at the hotel were set in Euros, my card was charged as Lira. Similarly, staff accepted tips in £ or € but preferred in Lira, their own currency.
Interestingly, the taxi into town was €4 or about 25% cheaper if paid in lira.
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